The History and Future of Fairy-Tale Studies
Fairy-tale studies emerged as a distinct historical and critical phenomenon in the last three decades of the twentieth century, and it continues to influence research on folktales and fairy tales today. This talk surveys the genesis of fairy-tale studies, documents the crucial role of Grimm scholarship and American Germanists, and considers the reasons for the movement's expansion, including its sustained trajectory and controversies. This presentation explores questions about the future of fairy-tale studies as a coherent, multidisciplinary phenomenon.
Donald Haase is Professor of German and Associate Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Wayne State University. He received his PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research on German, French, English, and American literature and film spans texts from the 18th century to the present. His publications include articles in journals such as Fabula, The Lion and the Unicorn, German Politics and Society, Modern Austrian Literature, Monatshefte,Romance Notes, and English Language Notes. He has edited The Reception of Grimms' Fairy Tales: Responses, Reactions, Revisions (Wayne State University Press, 1993), a new edition of Joseph Jacobs's English Fairy Tales and More English Fairy Tales (ABC-CLIO, 2002), Fairy Tales and Feminism: New Approaches(Wayne State University Press, 2004), and the 3-volume Greenwood Encyclopedia of Folktales and Fairy Tales(Greenwood Press, 2007). He also edits the international journal Marvels & Tales: Journal of Fairy-Tale Studies and the Series in Fairy-Tale Studies for Wayne State University Press. He serves on the advisory board of Fairy Tale Review; on the editorial board of Wayne State University Press; and on the Executive Committee of the International Society for Folk Narrative Research.
